Jack's genius idea to create and sell "porn for women" was incredibly weak. The concept of women swooning over men, televised or otherwise, simply listening to their jabbering is not a fresh idea, and 30 Rock's presentation of it gave no new twists. Equally unsurprising was the tag showing Liz ordering one of the female porn channels. Liz did have some fun moments in the body of the episode, but like Jack, she was struggling. After not hitting it off with the man she labeled as "future husband" in last week's episode, the universe continued to push the pair together. I did enjoy how incompatible Liz and Wesley were, to the point where they actually kind of despised each other. The funniest things to hate about Wesley were the names he claimed were used in England for common items. A video camera is a "film pod," a bicycle is a "foot cycle." Best was when he told Liz he'd see her again in May for sweeps. "That's what we call spring cleaning in England." But overall, there was little funny in Liz Lemon's relationship woes this week.
The most enjoyable portions of Thursday's episode came from Tracy's storyline. It was a basic premise, turning Tracy's monogamy and love for his wife into something scandalous. The episode wisely kept these bits short and sweet, as forcing the concept further would have sucked the fun out of the jokes. Women holding press conferences to state that they have not had an affair with Tracy was clever. But best was watching the news air leaked voicemails from Tracy: "Hey, baby. It's your husband and I'm at Bed Bath & Beyond. And I can't remember, did you say to get metal or wood shower curtain rings?" Again, if this had been the focus of the episode, it would have worn thin, like a comedy sketch going on far too long. The quick hits of funny bits helped save the episode from being a complete bore.
The other highlight of the episode came in the opening moments. I thought Jack's "Employee Town Hall Meeting" was hilarious. The bit was fast, funny, ridiculous and showcased everything 30 Rock does right. From the Tokyo representatives' cultural pajamas to the Philadelphia versus Boston argument to Jack's super-serious delivery of some amazingly oddball lines ("He built GE into the greatest company on Earth, and the Earth into one of the top three planets in the universe."), the opening minutes trumped the remainder of the episode.